The High School Cliché
by Be-a-child-forever
Summary: Here at John Adams High, the school is divided into cliques. No one knows how the school was divided, it's just always been this way. We just know that that's how things are meant to be and that's how things should stay. But what happens when people are taken out of their comfort zone and everything starts changing? When people start to change and unlikely relationships form?
1. Monday

**~Riley~**

I reluctantly wake up to the deafening sound of my alarm. Great, it's Monday. Another week of school where I walk alone in the hallways and eat by myself at lunch. My parents don't know I'm a loner at school and they certainly don't know I get bullied by the popular kids. Fortunately, my dad isn't my teacher anymore since he decided to torture Auggie by working at his school instead.

I slowly get dressed and ready for school before heading downstairs; making sure I look happy in front of my parents so they don't ask questions about school.

"Good morning sweetie, I made breakfast."

"Thanks mom, but I'm not that hungry and I'm gonna be late, " She looks at me skeptically so I quickly add, "I'll just get something on the way to school" I smile at her, hoping that she believed me.

"Okay, but make sure you eat. You know, breakfast is-"

"The most important meal of the day," I interrupt her "I know mom. I really should go now, I love you." I run up to her and peck her on the cheek.

"Bye sweetie, have a good day at school."

Ugh school.

 **~Farkle~**

"Yess! It's Monday! Another beautiful week to learn something new every day." I look at my watch and see that I've got plenty of time to get ready for school.

I get up and get dressed, deciding to wear a black t-shirt that spells GeNiUS in periodic elements rather than a turtle neck in this summer heat. I wear jeans and converse and look at myself in a nearby mirror.

"Heyyy, not bad Farkle. You don't seem like such a nerd today," I say to myself, "ahh who am I kidding? You're the school's biggest nerd."

I head towards the kitchen and see a note on the fridge from my dad saying:

'I took the helicopter for a ride with your mother. There's food in the fridge son'.

I take my time to make a sandwich and eat it whilst watching today's news.

Time flew by and before I knew it, it was almost time for school. I hurriedly pack my bag and swing it on my shoulder as I close the front door behind me. I grabbed my bike from the garage and cycled to school: My place of worship.

 **~Maya~**

Waking up, I called out for my mom, even though I knew she wouldn't be home. It was worth a try at least.

"Hey, mom? You home?"

...

No reply. Of course. What did you expect maya?

I took my time whilst getting ready for school, not caring how late I might be. School hours are ridiculous anyway. Besides our last yearbook, for some reason, said I was the most popular girl at school. That's gotta give you some sort of special treatment right? I was just about to pour my cereal when I received a text from...my mom?

Mom: Working day and night this entire week. Promise I'll make it up to you x.

"Pfft, yeah right." I scoffed. I've given up on believing in my mother's promises, she never keeps them. She doesn't realize that I'm not a little child anymore. That just by saying one word I'll believe that everything will be okay. She doesn't realize that her promises don't mean anything to me. But I play along.

Me: That's ok. You can make it up to me by letting me choose the movie for girls night ;)

"Sometimes I swear I'm better off without her." I sigh. With that I ate my breakfast, brushed my teeth and fixed my hair then headed out the door.

Thanks for a miserable morning mom.

 **~Lucas~**

"Son you better get up or you'll be late for school!" I hear my dad yell from downstairs.

"Dad I'm awake, I'm ready, all I need is breakfast. Calm down." I say as I run downstairs and pat him on the back when I walk past him, towards the kitchen. "Besides, I've got plenty of time to spare."

"Well, do you have your car keys?"

I stop in my tracks. I slowly turn around looking at him questioningly with narrowed eyes. "M-My what?"

He just laughed in response. "Son you're 16. You've driven a tractor before in Texas, and I've let you drive my car bef-"

"That was Uncle Sam's car..."

"Yeah well, I didn't want my car to be torn to shreds, you were 13 at the time." He laughed. "What I'm saying is , you're actually a pretty good driver, I've given you lessons in my car and I trust you enough to start driving your own car. Here," He threw me the keys, "it's a good job you've got time to spare. I'm guessing you'd be pretty rusty so you'll need to practice before driving to school." He just smiled at me. I ran up to him and hugged him.

"This is awesome, thanks dad," as we part from the hug I tell him "oh and...you wouldn't tell anyone I hugged you, right?"

With a snigger he told me to eat my breakfast before I drove the car.

This will boost my popularity like crazy. Man, I can't wait to get to school.

A/N: Just a chapter to kinda introduce what the characters are like in this story.


	2. Boy with everything & girl with nothing

**~Lucas~**

Everyone loves the car that I drove to school, but they love me more for driving it. All the girls are practically throwing themselves at me... I mean it's not like they weren't before. Before this car they liked me for being a jock. The most popular and attractive jock. But now?

Now I'm being treat like royalty. I'm practically the Prince Charming of the school and I guess it wouldn't hurt to play along for a little while.

I'm surrounded by a sea of people asking me questions when I hear a familiar voice above the noise of the crowd.

"DUDE?! You've got a car?" I see Zay making his way through the crowd towards me. "You've got a car and we haven't been on a road trip? C'mon man, I thought I was your best friend." Just as I was about to reply I feel two hands clasp my shoulders behind me and the voice I hear confirms that it's Billy.

"Nah that can't be true! Lucas and I are best friends. We're the best athletes in our year and we had this handshake of awesomeness when we were kids," at that I shook my head, smiling as I looked at the ground. Slightly embarrassed by the mention of that weird handshake.

"Yeeah... Billy? Don't tell anyone else about that handshake thing again ok?"

"Hey, whatever you say." He held his hands up in defence. "I'm just saying that we're best friends and that I call shotgun on this road trip."

"Guys we're not having a road trip," I attempt to clarify, "but it doesn't mean we can't celebrate by throwing a pool party!" Everyone cheered at that and I began to get swarmed by even more people.

 **~Riley~**

I see a massive crowd of students cheering around this flashy looking car. Wondering who it belonged to, I walked up to the crowd just to see Lucas Friar leaning proudly against his new car. All the girls seem to love him and all the guys wanna be him, but honestly?

I think he's an arrogant jerk. He's an obnoxious bully who wouldn't hesitate to bring down another person so he and others would think highly of him.

But what do I know? I don't even have a name at this school. I'm just the loner who gets treated like trash by people like the jerk over there showing off his car and popularity. God I hate people like him.

I sigh and shake my head as I go to class.

 **~Lucas~**

As I walk down the steps to my class, I see the most beautiful girl in school walking down the hall to her locker. I watch as she walks past me and we make eye contact. Those deep blue eyes. It feels like she holds the whole universe inside them and I can't help but smile. Until I notice the sadness in them.

I've had a crush on this girl for a long time now, and as I've watched her over the past year or so (in a non-creepy way) I've noticed that she never shows when she's upset.

She always tries to hide it. She thinks it makes her weak if she cries but I want to be there for her when she does. I want to hold her and let her cry on my shoulder. I want to help her face her problems, not run away and hide from them.

But I can't. I can't do any of those things because I'm supposed to be Lucas. A single jock who all the girls wanna be with and all the guys wanna be.

"Hey," I see Zay's hands waving in front of my face,"YO! Earth to Lucas." I realize that I've probably gaped at her for too long, so snap back to reality.

"S-sorry, I was just-" I'm interrupted by Billy.

"Has someone got a wittle cwush on Maya Hart?"

"What? Dude, No! Why're you talking like a baby?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he shrugs. "You're way out of her league" I laugh along but Billy couldn't be more wrong. She's out of my league.

 **~Maya~**

I'm making my way to my locker wondering what I'd do for the rest of the week, now that I know I'll pretty much be home alone the entire time, when I start to question why my mom does this.

Why does she have to work all the time. We've got enough money to support ourselves now. Why can't she just take one day off work to spend time with her child.

I worry that she's going to leave me like my father did. I mean sure, with the amount or lack of time I actually spend with her, she might as well have left me on my own. She's my mom, I need her to be there for me so I can be there fore her.

So why isn't she?

As I turn the corner I realize the commotion is coming from the jocks and when I walk past them I make eye contact with their 'leader' Lucas Friar. All I know about him is that he's a rich jock from Texas with a funny accent.

I notice his friends are talking to him but he's paying no attention, he's just staring at me with a genuine smile.

Of course he's happy. He's a typical, stupid, rich kid probably with loving parents that buy him anything he wants to make him happy.

And what do I have? A dad who left me, half a mom and a damn bad day so far.

His smile suddenly disappears and turns into a frown almost as if he was asking me 'what's wrong?', like he was concerned about me. I snigger at the fact that a guy I barely know probably cares more about how I feel than my parents, certainly more than my father did.

 _ **A/N:**_ _This story is also on wattpad. It has the same title, same cover and same 'author', so if it's easier for you to read on wattpad then you can. There are also more chapters on wattpad at the moment since I wrote this story on there first._


	3. Lunchtime fun

**~Riley~**

Lunchtime. The worst part of every day. You walk in to the cafeteria blinded by the amount of people there are and even though you can sit wherever you want, the seats are allocated to certain cliques - the loudest table always being the jocks.

I grab some food and attempt to find a seat in this chaotic environment. As I struggle to find somewhere to sit, I can feel people staring at me, probably talking about how pointless I am, mocking me and calling me names under their breath. So I just stand there looking around aimlessly. Since it's obvious no one is going to let me sit next to them, I decide to eat my lunch in the library because...well, half the students don't even know we have a library.

Usually I skip lunch in order to avoid humiliation in the cafeteria, but I'm not going to let the bullies win. Not today.

I keep my head down as I clumsily walk past the many faces I've seen before. I'm almost out of the dreaded cafeteria when I notice that the jocks are sitting near the exit. Which means that to get to the library I must pass the table of jocks. So I brace myself for what's to come.

 **~Lucas~**

I see the brunette that me and the guys always tease. She's standing in the middle of the cafeteria looking for a seat until she starts approaching us.

The guys are being their usual loud selves so I nod in her direction, signalling them to be quiet and start teasing the loner girl.

"Well, would you look at that," I stand up and shout "the little loner has nowhere to sit" I mockingly make a sad, sympathetic face. All the guys laugh, some of them adding a sarcastic 'awww'.

"What the hell is she wearing?" Billy's next to get up, "did a rainbow spit on you or something?" He pushes her. "Geez you're blinding me with all those colors." He puts his arms out in front of his face, as if he was responding to a bright camera flash. He's such an idiot.

"No but seriously, does it hurt to put a little make up on? You can at least try to cover up that ugly-ass face." He slaps the back of her head, making her jolt forward. "It hurts our eyes to look at a nothing like you, you know."

She starts walking faster and she looks like she might start to cry.

Maybe he went a little too far this time?

As she practically runs past me, I grab her arm. "Aww come on, lon-"

She spins around. "Why can't you just leave me alone?!" She tugs her arm back and runs out of the cafeteria.

"Oooo, feisty!" One of the guys said, making everyone laugh except me. She's never fought back before.

 **~Riley~**

I try to fight back my tears as I repeat the words engraved in my head over and over again. 'Don't let the bullies win'.

I try to forget the awful things that boy said. But as I repeatedly played what he said in my head, I realized that what he said didn't actually hurt me. It was the way he said it. As if everyone thought the same thing as him when they saw me. But what hurts most is that everything he said was true.

I do wear bright, colorful clothes. I don't wear make-up like all the other girls in our grade. I am a nothing.

I feel a tear fall down my cheek and I quickly wipe it away.

Don't let the bullies win.

When I reach the library I throw my lunch away and grab a seat where no one else is. I fold my arms and rest my head on the table, letting my tears stream down my face.

A few minutes later I sense someone sitting next to me and my immediate instinct was to leave. So I stood up and wiped away my tears, but for some reason the person next to me reached for my wrist and sat me down.

 **~Farkle~**

I just came out of science with numerous books belonging to the popular guys and sporty guys and...basically anyone that's a friend of Lucas Friar's. I made a deal with all of them. I would do all the homework they got this week and in return they would get me invited to the rumored pool party that Lucas will be throwing this weekend.

Yeah, that's a lot of homework to do for something that is merely a rumor but this'll probably be the party of the year. There is no way I'm going to miss it. I'm not going to miss my shot at being popular.

I decide to skip lunch and go straight to the library with a bunch of books to get a head-start on all this homework.

I go to the back of the library, hoping to get a seat by the bay window. But I stop when I see a girl sat at a desk with her head down and her shoulders shaking, as if she was crying.

I sit next to her and she immediately gets up, which is when I see that the table was slightly damp with what must have been her tears. I hold her wrist and sit her back down. I can't let her leave when I know she's upset.

"Hey," I say softly, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she sniffles. I raise my eyebrows, showing that I don't believe her. "I'm fine. Honest." She gets up to leave.

"Oh no, please don't leave. You might not wanna talk to me but I could use some company." She's hesitant to sit back down, but she does anyway.

"So... Have you heard about Friar's pool party this weekend?" She shakes her head, so I continue. "Apparently only 'cool' people are invited."

"That's stupid," she mutters.

I see her looking at all the books on the desk, then look down to see that there are even more on the floor.

"Oh. I made a deal with a bunch of Lucas' friends" I explained. "I do their homework," I slam my hand on the pile of books, "they get me invited to Lucas' party."

She narrows her eyes and tilts her head questioningly. "Why do you have so many? Why didn't you just make a deal with one person?"

"For backup" I simply say. "If I asked one person they would've just used me to do their homework and 'forget' to keep their end of the deal. But with the amount of people's work I have now, one of them is bound to get me to that party."

I smile at my plan and the thought of being a popular kid- then taking over the school and ruling it as preparation before I take over the world... Until she breaks me out of my daydream.

"You like to plan ahead, huh? She asks. Almost as if she could read my thoughts.

"Yup! I'm pretty organized like that." I reply

"Me too." We share a smile. She seems to be a little happier now, which makes me happy.

"What's your name?" I ask. Although, by the look on her face it seemed like I asked if she had a second head.

"Um. R-Riley."

"Farkle." I hold my hand out. "Farkle Minkus." She giggles at my name, which I find adorable, and shakes my hand.

"Well, Riley, I think this could be the start of a great friendship."

We spend the rest of lunchtime talking and getting to know each other. I didn't get much homework done but it was worth it because I made a beautiful, crying girl be happy and laugh instead.


	4. Pool party pt1: Invitations

**~Maya~**

These past few days have gone by pretty slow and I haven't seen my mom at all. At school, everyone is going crazy about Lucas' party tomorrow night. This guy, Billy I think his name is, has been trying to get me to go with him all week. But honestly, I'd much rather stay at home watching TV than watch a guy try to impress me at a lame pool party. So every time he asks I reject him.

I'm at my locker grabbing books for my next lesson. I realize someone is standing behind it so I slam my locker shut and turn to face them.

"Howdy." Oh, great.

"What do you want?"

"How about a 'Hey, how are ya?'"

"How about you tell me what you want?" He holds his hands up in defence.

"Whoa, easy there tiger! I came to uhh- I came t-to," he rubs the back of his neck. Was he nervous?

"Spit it out cowboy." He's starting to annoy me now.

"You wanna come to my pool party on Saturday?"

I looked at him incredulously. "Me? Going to a kids' party? You don't know me at all do you?"

For some reason he smirks, which confuses me. I just insulted his party but he's just looking at me like he's planning something. This guy is weird.

"Yeah, I knew you wouldn't want to come. You're so predictable Maya Hart." He shakes his head and leaves.

How dare he? I am not predictable. I am anything but predictable. I'm spontaneous. I do what I want when I want to. Urgggh why do I find him so irritating? We're barely acquaintances yet he acts like he knows me better than myself.

I hate him. And I hate the fact that I don't know why I hate him.

 **~Lucas~**

I walk off pretty proud of myself. This party is my chance to get her to notice me. I was kind of nervous to invite her, but when she called it a kids' party I smirked, knowing exactly what to say to get her to come.

Maya's easily influenced, if someone says she can't or won't do something she'll do it. Just to prove them wrong. That's why I know she'll come to my party; to prove that she's not predictable. To prove me wrong.

It's just simple reverse psychology and she totally fell for it.

 **~Farkle~**

I see Riley in History class smiling at me when she saw me. I smile back and sit behind her, since the seat next to her is taken. We've become pretty good friends but it's weird how I've never noticed her before. I didn't even know she was a student in this school let alone in my History class. The lesson hasn't started yet so I tap her on the shoulder to get her attention, making her turn around. I've finally won an invite to Lucas' party and I want to ask Riley if she was going.

"Hey," I say.

"Hey." She smiles and looks at me for a while, expecting me to say something, but I just froze. Why did I freeze? She turns back around when the teacher walks into the room.

Dammit Farkle. You had one job. One. Job.

I tap her shoulder again but she doesn't turn around, she's too busy listening to the lecture.

"Hey Riley," I whisper, "are you going to the party on Saturday?" I see her shake her head. I frown, curious as to why she's not going. "Why not? Are you-".

"Minkus!" I'm interrupted by a furious teacher. "Stop distracting other students while I'm trying to teach! Now tell me the four major problems in 1920s America."

I sigh and answer his question monotonously.

 **~Riley~**

I notice Farkle trying to get my attention during the lecture, but I try to ignore him and pay attention to what the teacher is saying.

"Hey Riley, are you going to the party on Saturday?" I hear him whisper. I just shake my head in response. I don't think he knows how unpopular I am, or that I get bullied by the host of this party. He's questioning me further but he gets interrupted by the teacher, who yells at him and asks him a tough question about the topic he's about to teach us this lesson.

"The four major problems were, social inequality, racism, industry and agriculture." He then started listing all these facts without hesitating to think. My eyes widen when he finishes his speech and I turn around with an open mouth. He smirks and winks at me, causing me to smile and giggle. I shake my head and turn my attention back to the teacher.

The bell rang signalling the end of the day and week. As I leave the classroom to head to my locker I hear Farkle trying to catch up with me.

"Hey, wait up!" He runs up to me and matches my pace so he's walking beside me. "Why aren't you going to the party?" He asks me. I feel bad for him, he genuinely doesn't know he's talking to a loser.

"I wasn't invited," I simply say.

"So?" I look at him confused. "You can be my plus one." He shrugs.

"Like...a date?"

"N-no, not a a date," he stammers. "Unless you want it to be." I stop walking.

"Listen, Farkle. I wasn't invited," I repeat and start walking again as I list the reasons why I won't go. "I don't want to go, I'm not friends with anyone that's going, I-"

"Oh c'mon!" He grabs my arms stopping me and turning me to face him. "It'll be fun! Besides, I'm your friend and I'm going." His hands slide down to mine as he gives me puppy dog eyes. I couldn't believe that he said he was my friend. I sigh, giving into his puppy dog eyes.

"Fine, I'll go with you."

"Great!" He jumps. "It's a date!" He says unconsciously. "I-I mean it's not a date, we-we're just-"

"Friends." I smile at the fact that I have a friend.

"Yeah." He says softly and smiles back. "So I'll meet you there?"

I nod then he walks off, but I could've sworn I saw him skip a step.


	5. Pool part pt2: The incident

**~Farkle~**

"It's Saturday! Alright, be cool Farkle, just play it cool. It's just a party, a cool people's party, that you've been invited to, that you've invited a girl to, that's happening tonight and...OH MY GOSH!" I yell, panicking.

My Dad barges into my room. "SON?! Are you okay? What happened? What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Yeah... I think panicking is a family trait.

"I have nothing cool to wear to this party tonight." I look at my Dad with my infamous puppy dog eyes. He sighs, rolling his eyes he gives me his credit card. I feel an uncontrollable grin growing on my face "Thanks Dad!" I say and run out of the house to buy clothes for the party.

As I'm walking past all these shops I see a cute little jewelery store that reminds me of Riley. I walk in without even thinking and look for a necklace for her.

Wait, why am I looking for Riley? We're just-

"Is it for someone special?" My thoughts are interrupted by the jeweler.

"No, she's just a friend," I smile then frown, "I think." She smiles and guides me towards the jewelery she would recommend.

It barely took me a minute before I found the perfect pendant.

Maybe I do, kinda, sorta, like her, I guess?

 **~Maya~**

I'm laying on my bed thinking. No one else is home, I'm all by myself. I look at my phone to check the time and see that it's 8pm. My mind wonders off to the party that's happening tonight. That idiot, jerk's party. My neutral mood turns to anger at the mere thought of him.

"I am not predictable!" I repeated for what seemed like the thousandth time. "He doesn't even know me!" I get off my bed in frustration and walk towards my closet. "Well you know what cowboy? I am not predictable and I will go to your lame-ass party just to prove it!"

I pick out some clothes and start to get ready.

 **~Lucas~**

"Alright, I'll be back home Monday night. You boys better behave yourselves." My father says pointing his finger at us.

"Yeah, yeah-"

"And no parties either." He narrows his eyes at me.

I smirk when I turn to look at Billy and Zay behind me. "No parties. Got it. You can trust me Dad."

"I do trust you kiddo. I'll see you Monday." He smiles and leaves.

"Alright! Who's ready to party?" I turn around and clap my hands. "We've got an hour before people start coming. Billy, you're in charge of drinks. Zay, you get the food. I'll sort the music. Then we'll move the furniture to make this house party-friendly. Let's go people! Party starts at 9!" I bark.

 **~Riley~**

For some reason I've decided to go to the party- well, linger outside his house at least. I'm too afraid to go in. I knew this was a bad I idea all along but the thought of seeing Farkle disappointed in me encouraged me to come. His my only friend and I don't want to let him down. Yet here I am being a coward.

Even though the party started half an hour ago there must have been at least 60 people there already and I stood as I watched plenty more flooding in. I sigh as I back up into a wall and slide down, making the final decision to wait outside. I don't want to go home since I told my parents that I was going to a party and going home after 5 minutes would be suspicious. But more than anything else I don't want to go home because I don't want to 'officially' give up.

So I sit. And watch. As the whole world seems to be having more fun than me.

 **~Lucas~**

I've been searching around for Maya since the party started but she's nowhere to be seen. I start doubting myself, maybe I don't know her as well as I thought. I turn around to head back to where everyone else is when I bump into someone.

"Sorry ma'am, I didn't see-" I pause when I realize who I'm talking to. "Whoa, you look...whoa."

"Snap out of it Huckleberry." She has a smug look on her face. "I'm here. I've proved you wrong. What've you got to say for yourself?"

I smirk. "I knew you'd come blondie," her face fell. "You're so-"

"I will break you!" She growls as she takes a step closer to me.

"If that's what makes you happy, then I certainly can't wait for it...ma'am" I emphasise my Texan accent and wink as I tip my imaginary hat.

I couldn't help but chuckle when she rolls her eyes, moaning in frustration as she stomps off.

"Hey, wait up!" I catch up to her. "Did you really come here to prove me wrong?"

"Yeah! But clearly I ended up proving you right." She threw her hands up.

"So you came here for me?"

"Yea- what? No!" I feel my lips tug up to a smirk.

"You did. You came for me. You like me!" I tease her.

"I do not! You think I'm predictable!" She's getting frustrated.

"No I don't."

"So what do you think I am?" She crosses her arms.

"I think you're beautiful." My eyes widen when I realize what I just said. She just stares at me in silence and raises her eyebrows before she walks off.

I stand and watch as the crowd pulled her away from me.

"Dammit Lucas! You just couldn't keep ya mouth shut, could ya?" I kick the ground, angry at myself for losing her when I barely had her.

 **~Maya~**

I can't believe he said that. Why would he say that? My thoughts are interrupted when someone wraps their arm around my waist.

"How you doin'? I slap his arm away.

"Yeah...no dice Bobby-"

"Billy." He corrects me.

"Whatever. I've been rejecting you all week, why can't you understand that I don't like you."

"Because I like you. I like you very very much." He slurs his words.

"Are you drunk?" I frown.

"So what if I am?" He shoves me against the wall and presses my wrists into it. I try to fight back but he's way too strong.

"What the-" I'm silenced when he smashes his lips against mine. He smirks when he pulls away.

"Y'know I think Lucas has a crush on you." He kisses my cheek and leaves trails down to my neck. I want to scream but I can't. I don't want to seem weak but I feel a lump forming in my throat as tears threaten to escape.

"That's a bit unfair though don't you think? All the girls are throwing themselves at him, he could have any girl he wants." He steps even closer to me, closing any space there was between us. "Yet he wants the one who doesn't love him back. The one girl all the other guys have a chance with." He pushes my wrists above my head and grabs them both with one hand. "Friar wants to keep you all to himself."

I'm trying my best not to scream in pain from my wrists being scraped against the wall. I wince when he uses his free hand to place a strand of hair behind my ear and leans in to whisper, "I don't like that. I want you. Lucas doesn't deserve you. I do."

I squeeze my eyes shut and my entire body stiffens. Why did I ever come to this goddamn party?! I just want this to stop. For once in my life I want someone to save me. I wish someone would save me.


	6. Pool party pt3: The aftermath

**~Lucas~**

I look around for Maya, again, to try to apologize or tell her I like her. Or to just at least talk to her. I push past people in the crowd, in a hurry to find her. I really don't want to lose her and I certainly don't want her to think I'm shallow and hate me.

I see beautiful blonde locks in the distance which could only belong to her and everything around me becomes a blur. I start to approach her when I realize Billy has his arm wrapped around her and is standing way too close for comfort. I stop in my tracks. My blood starts to boil as he gets closer to her. To say I'm a little jealous would be an understatement.

All my anger and jealousy fades however, when I see she slaps his arm away. "Atta girl" I chuckle under the pounding music. I'm heading towards them when people stumble in front of me giggling like children and barely able to walk. Are they drunk?

I take a cup from one of their hands but they're too out of it to notice. It looks like soda but I know for sure there is something else in this drink. I brace myself for the disgusting taste and quickly chug a load of whatever the drink is. It burns my tongue and I can feel it setting fire to my throat as it slides down.

"I should've never left Billy in charge of drinks!" I grow angry at my best friend as I throw away the cup containing alcohol. I storm past the tipsy girls and drunk guys and head to where I saw Billy last. But I don't see him anywhere and instead I get dizzy from spinning around trying to find him. I finally see him in a quieter, darker place, kissing a girl against the wall.

I'm sick of this. I'm sick of him not taking any responsibility for what he does. Not thinking about the consequences. He thinks that just because he's fairly popular he can do anything. As I get closer to him, I see that he tucks a blonde strand of hair behind the petite girl's ear.

I immediately realize who he is harassing and I'm overcome with rage. She has her eyes squeezed shut and I can tell that she's afraid, though she would never admit it. I march over to him, my face becoming harsher as I grow angrier with each step.

"Hey asshole!" I yell. Billy turns around, still not letting go of Maya. With the force of a train crash, I slam my fist into his face, releasing Maya from his grasp. He stumbles back and doubles over in pain, I grab his collar and smash him into the wall before he's able to fight back. I put my arm across his chest and press down so he struggles to breathe.

I intimidate him by getting close to his face when I growl, "you lay a finger on my girl again, I swear, I will kill you." I glare at him with narrowed eyes, still pushing down on his chest until he's gasping for air. "Now get off my property." I spit as I release him and shove him away. I watch him leave as I shake my head. "What a jerk." I mutter through gritted teeth.

I turn around to see Maya looking down at the ground holding her wrists. "Are you okay? Did he hurt-"

She finally looks up at me with a frown, she looks...angry with me. "I don't need to be protected. Least of all by you." She shoves past me and starts walking away.

I'm astonished by how ungrateful she is and decide to speak up. "What're you talking about?" I turn and grab her arm before she leaves. "I just saved your ass."

"I'm not yours to save!" She snaps, looking like she's on the verge of tears. "I didn't need to be saved! I had it under control." She retorts, pulling her arm back.

"Yeah, it looked like it." I say sarcastically as she glares at me then walks away, again."You're welcome!" I yell after her.

 **~Maya~**

I walk away from the scene, tears brimming my eyes. I push past the sea of teenage party animals 'dancing' to unbearably deafening music and start running out of this place before anyone can see me cry.

Once I reach the gate to this mansion I start slowing down. I close my eyes, appreciating the fresh air and quiet. The nighttime breeze gently blowing on my face, cooling me from the heat produced by so many bodies at the party. When I open my eyes I see a familiar brunette crouching against a half wall across the street.

Wondering what she's doing here, I walk towards her and she immediately gets up. "What's wrong?" She asks and I get confused. "Why have you been crying?" I realized that I hadn't wiped away my tears when they streamed down my face.

"I-I'm not," I quickly wipe them away, sniffling. "I haven't. I don't-"

"It's okay to cry." She interrupts me by hugging me. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

I shake my head as she pulls away and she nods understandingly. "Thanks for caring though Riley."

She looks at me wide-eyed like a kid. "You know my name?!" She practically yells.

 **~Riley~**

I can't believe Maya Hart, the most popular girl in school knows my name. She chuckles slightly. "Of course I know your name. You're Riley Matthews. The pretty, shy girl at the back of the class. You dress in bright colours to show you're a fun, goofy person deep down if-" She pauses and frowns as she looks down. "if people didn't bully you."

I frown then snicker. "You know a whole lot more than my name huh?" I'm kind of angry that she knows I get bullied yet she's never done anything to help me.

There's a long, awkward silence where neither of us make eye contact. I look down at her wrists and see that they're both grazed and bloody. I look up at her frowning out of concern. "You're hurt. Who did that to you?" I ask.

"I don't want to talk about it. Can we just... get out of here?"

 **~Maya~**

We go to a little park nearby and gently swing on the swings. Neither of us have spoken since I suggested to come here so I finally speak up.

"I'm sor-"

"Why don't y-" We speak simultaneously.

"You first." I say.

"If you know I get bullied, why don't you ever stand up for me?" She asks, the feeling of betrayal coating her words.

I look down at my feet, ashamed by my reason. "Because that's how our school works. You're the girl everyone makes fun of. For some reason the school thinks you have no feelings, that it's okay to tease you because you don't care. Because you won't fight back."

"And what do you think?"

I look up at her with a genuine smile. "I think you're the bravest person I know. I think it's disgusting how people, including me, don't treat you the way you deserve to be treated. Even though I've never insulted you, I didn't stand up for you and that makes me just as bad as the bullies. I don't wanna be a bully. I'm so sorry Riley." I reach for her hand and I get upset when she pulls away. I get off the swing and start walking away, feeling guilty about hurting her feelings.

Before I could leave she runs up in front of me and wraps her arms around me squeezing me in a hug. "You're not a bully Maya."

"Thanks, you're a good friend Riley."

"Am I your good friend?" She pulls away from the hug.

"Nuh-uh I don't do friends. I'm more of a lone wolf."

"Am I your friend?"

"What did I just tell you?"

"Am I your best friend?"

"You're not gonna give up are ya?"

"Nope." She says with a massive grin as she pops the 'p'.

I sigh, rolling my eyes. "Sure, why not? You've already seen me cry."

"YAAAAAAY!" She shouts as she suffocates me in another hug.

I laugh, I'm glad I have someone like Riley now. She'll be like a little ray of sunshine peaking through my dark cloud. I make a promise to myself to always protect her. She's an innocent little plant and little plants need to be protected from bullies who can stand on them.


	7. Chaos in the cafeteria

**~Farkle~**

I didn't see Riley at the party on Saturday night but I decided not to mention it or text her about it. She probably just didn't want to go with me, which is fair enough. I mean, who'd want to go to a party with a nerd?

It's lunchtime already, the day seems to have gone by so quickly.

I go to the cafeteria to eat my lunch. I see Riley in the distance talking to...Missy? I didn't know they were friends. A crowd starts forming around them so I walk closer to them until I'm close enough to see what's happening but too far away to hear.

 **~Riley~**

"Hey girls, look who I found, it's super klutz" I hear the all-to-familiar voice say in front of me. I continue walking with my head down and I quickly look up to see her menacing grimace before she trips me up and I fall to the ground. "Hey do you wanna get off those stilts so you can walk like a normal person?" I get up and dust myself off, facing Missy as she steps closer to me.

"Oh wait, I forgot, you're not a person. You're a nothing. You have no friends, no money and definitely no taste in fashion." She looks me up and down with disgust. "No one loves you, no one cares about you. No one would miss you if you were gone because they wouldn't notice that you were gone. You don't mean anything to anyone. Hell, you don't even have a name."

"Yeah, I do." I manage to choke out, holding back my tears as my eyes are glued to my feet.

"Did you say something rainbow?" She raises her eyebrows questioning me.

"I do." I repeat, louder this time so she can hear me.

"You do what?"

"I do have a name." I say finally looking up.

"Oh yeah?" She laughs. "Listen to this girls, the weak little weasel claims to have a name." Her stupid pesky entourage laugh along with her.

"My name is Riley Matthews." I whisper.

"I can't hear you, freak," she shoves me so I stumble backwards. "And frankly, I don't care what you're name-"

"What're you deaf?" she's interrupted by someone stepping in between us. "She said her name is Riley Matthews. And you better care what her name is because she is my best friend. You mess with her," she shoves Missy twice as hard as Missy shoved me, "you mess with me."

I just stood there watching the events in front of me, amazed by the fact that someone is standing up for me. By now, it felt like the whole school was in the cafeteria watching this scene. Including Farkle.

"So go ahead. Take a swing at her", Maya shoves her again, "slap her," and again until Missy's against a wall. She grabs Missy by her collar and pulls her close to her face. "Because I guarantee, whatever you do to her, I'll do ten times worse to you."

 **~Maya~**

I wasn't going to let Missy get away with it, not this time. I made a promise to myself to protect Riley and I'm not planning to break that promise anytime soon.

"What, so the yearbook said you were the most popular girl in school and now you think you can take me? You'd really stoop so low to fight for that talentless freak."

"I don't know, she had to deal with you pestering her for the past few months yet she never raised a finger, I think that's pretty talented." She shoves me, causing me to release her from my grasp.

"You know what, screw you! I don't need this." She starts walking away.

"Yeah that's right, be a coward. Just walk away when you know you won't win." I provoke her. I'm so not done with her yet.

"I will not walking away!" She turns around sharply. "I don't give up easily Hart and I am certainly not a coward. Which is more than I can say for your father." My eyes grow wide in disbelief. How dare she? I furrowed my brow, unable to believe the nerve on this girl.

"What did you just say?"

"Who's the deaf one now, huh?" She says with the smuggest look on her face.

That's it. This girl is dead. She had no right to say that to me. "You little bi-" I was about to pounce on her when I feel strong arms restraining me. "GET OFF ME!" I scream, struggling to escape their hold.

"No way I'm doing that ma'am," I recognize his Texan accent immediately. "You'll tear her apart and I don't think it'll reflect well on the school if a murder is committed here." My eyes never leave Missy's as I glower at her.

"Oh, gimme a break Lucas. She could never kill me. She doesn't have the guts to do it, she's not as cold-hearted as her pathetic excuse for a mother. Or half of a mother, shall I say?" This bitch just doesn't know when to stop, does she?

"Hey! That's enough Missy, back off." Why the hell is cowboy defending me? I could fight her on my own if he wasn't there holding me back. Stopping me from ripping her to shreds.

"Awww, is little lukie pookie getting protective over his crush?" Why does everyone keep saying that?! We're not even friends, we're barely acquaintances.

I continue struggling to escape his arms, waiting for Lucas to respond but he just looks Missy dead in the eye.

"Yeah, right! As if anyone could like this whore?" Billy steps in from the thick sea of students that have formed around us. "She was coming on to me at Lucas' party you know? I tried to stop her, but she just wouldn't. She thought she had a chance with me." He announced to everybody as he stood smirking at me.

"That's not tr-" before I could deny it Lucas dropped me and tackled Billy to the ground and started beating him.

"LUCAS!" I screamed for him to stop but he didn't.

 **~Lucas~**

How dare he? How d- "HOW DARE YOU?" I let go of Maya and tackle Billy onto the ground, he still has that stupid smirk on his face so I punch it off him. "You had the nerve," I punch him again, "to bring alcohol to MY party!" and again. "Then accuse Maya of something ridiculous like that?!" I grab him by his collar and lift him up, only to punch him again.

To my surprise, he punched me back and winded me. "It's not an accusation!" He spat. Ohhh this jerk is making me furious. "It's the truth." The fight escalated very quickly after that and we both ended up with cuts and bruises all over our bodies.

"You came on to her you bastard! I was there!" At this point, I was screaming at him. I put him in a headlock and kneed him a bunch of times.

He managed to escape and lock my arm against my back, pushing my face against the wall, forcing me to look at Maya. "Why do you care? You don't even date her!" He started screaming as well, but I didn't care. Everything Billy said after that was muffled because my full attention was on Maya.

All I saw was Missy striding away, leaving a broken-hearted Maya behind. She looks at me and mouths 'I'm sorry', the sorrow in her eyes was enough to break my heart. Whatever Missy said to Maya broke her and I hate Missy for that.

 **~Maya~**

Whilst Lucas was attacking Billy, Missy walked up to me disgusted. "How can he fall for a girl who's never been loved?" I look at her perplexed. "You're not even capable of love are you? You just hurt the people who do love you." She scoffs. Ohhh if only I could wrap my hands around her stupid little neck-. "And you wonder why people leave you." Before I could say or do anything she walks off.

I look back at Lucas and see that he's forced against a wall and he seems badly injured. I guess Missy was right. I'm doing this to him. He's hurt because of me. He's fighting his friend because of me. 'I'm sorry' I mouth to him under the loud, chaotic crowd.

"QUIET!" The principal's voice bellows through the cafeteria. "What's going on here? Friar, Ross, my office now."


	8. Questions and confessions

**~Riley~**

Missy was about to walk away from Maya when Farkle grabbed my hand and led me to somewhere quieter without saying a word. As we're walking I hear someone screaming so I stopped. "Farkle, what do you want? I need to go back, Maya might be in trouble. She might need help. I'm worried about her."

"Well stop worrying. We need to talk." He holds my hand again and insists we continue walking. "Anything that happens in that cafeteria now is not your fault. Now shush and follow me."

We come to a halt when we reach a greenhouse I didn't even know existed in this school. I explore around whilst we're still holding hands, it just feels so natural and comfortable, I feel safe when he's holding my hand. I see various plants blossoming and a couple of butterflies fluttering around, there are fairy lights attached to the ceiling so the greenhouse will light up at night. It's beautiful. "What is this place?" I ask in awe.

"A greenhouse." He simply states looking proud whilst I look at him unimpressed. "My greenhouse."

"What?!" I yell incredulously which causes him to laugh.

"It was just an old dump when I found it a few months ago. Somehow, I saw the potential of this place and started cleaning it up. I started planting seeds and I swiftly became an expert on plants. I was bored and I needed another hobby other than doing mine and other people's homework so I put up the fairy lights to make it a little prett-"

"Wait a minute, how did you find this place?" I noticed my question made him uneasy as he let go of my hand and faced away from me, watering a plant.

"I-uhh-it's..." He sighs. "Let's just say I was hiding from...life...when it all just got a little too much." I felt bad for bringing it up, he must have been in a bad place when he found this greenhouse.

"I'm sorry for bringing it up. I understand how it feels." He turns around to face me.

"Yeah, I'm sure you do. With you being bullied and all." I let out a long sigh as I only just realize why he brought me here.

"Oh...That's why we're here."

"Uh huh"

"That's why you wanted to talk?

"Yup!" He leads me to a bench and holds my hand as we sit down. "I want to know everything Riley. Who bullies you, when it started, why you haven't told me. Everything."

 **~Farkle~**

Riley does what I ask and she tells me everything as I listen. Half way through her explanation the bell rang but I told her to ignore it. I told her that this - that she was more important than any petty little lesson we could learn at school. She smiled and continued her story, by the time she finishes she's in tears. I pull her closer, reassure her that everything will be okay and let her cry on my shoulder until eventually her hysteric crying just becomes hiccups and sniffles.

"Do you hate me?" She chokes out. How could she think that I hate her?

"What? Why would I hate you?" I ask, confused.

"I'm pathetic. Weak. Ugly. I don't- I don't mean anything to anyone." Her voice is muffled against my shoulder. I pull away slowly and gently place my hands on her cheeks. I brush away the remaining tears with my thumb and hold her head there in my hands as I gaze into her eyes. She's looking down.

"Riley, look at me." She looks sideways, so I move her head so she's forced to face me. "Look at me." I whisper as she finally looks into my eyes

"You're worthwhile. You're strong. You're gorgeous. You mean the world to me and I care a lot about you. Don't listen to the bullies because they lie. Listen to me, everything that I say is the truth. You truly are remarkable and don't let anyone tell you any different." I embrace her.

"Thank you, Farkle."

"For what?" I ask.

"For being here for me. For caring. For making me feel better." That reminded me, I still have that pendant I bought her before the party. But since she didn't turn up I was going to give it to her today but then this happened. I pull away from the embrace and reach into my back pocket for the pendant.

"Speaking of how great I am," she giggles, "I bought this for you. At first, I bought it because it reminded me of when I met you, but now I've found out you're being bullied, well...it has a greater meaning now." I show her the pendant with a musk ox engraved on it. I laugh as I watch her facial expressions change from being grateful to being confused, I figure I should explain the meaning behind the gift.

"Yeah, I know the musk ox isn't the cutest of creatures but what it symbolizes is what reminded me of you. The musk ox represents endurance, strength and survival. When I met you, you were crying because someone hurt you but soon you started smiling and laughing, that took a lot of strength Riley." I see her blush and it feels so great.

"I'll always be here for you when I can, you know that. But in the moments when I can't be there to comfort you, I want this pendant to remind you to have courage. The must ox should inspire you to find life and hope in the hardest, darkest of times. To find an inner light and hold onto it despite anything that might be thrown at you." I notice she's crying. "Wh-why are you crying?"

"Happy tears, Farkle. I'm crying happy tears." She practically leaps into my arms, which makes me blush, as I embrace her. "Thank you so much."

"Y-you're welcome. Do you want me to-". We pull away.

"Yes please." She turns around and gathers her hair, lifting it up so I can place the pendant around her neck. "It's perfect Farkle." She says with a huge grin plastered on her face. Just knowing that I was the reason for that beautiful, bright smile made me so happy.

"Yeah well it better be, you do realize that I, the school's biggest nerd, have skipped class for you right?" I joke. She playfully shoves me and laughs as we walk back to our classes. That cute, adorable and contagious laugh I could listen to all day.

 **~Maya~**

The day is almost over, I wasn't concentrating in lessons, all I could think about was what happened in the cafeteria. I just want to get out of this class and search for Riley, to make sure she's okay. I didn't see Riley after the whole cafeteria fight thing and I was worried about her. As soon as the bells rings I grab my things and rush out the room. I head towards the toilets thinking she might be upset and hiding in there but on my way I see her laughing and talking with the nerd boy, Farkle.

Wow, I underestimated how strong she was. I decide to leave them be, I can text or talk to Riley anytime. I'm glad she has a friend like Farkle, he seems like a nice guy who makes her smile. I'm happy for her.

I decide that I should speak to Lucas, who was in after school detention. I need to thank him, as much as I hate to admit it, he saved me. Twice.

I'm walking to detention and I'm wondering if I should start opening up to someone. Crazy, right? But maybe all this 'acting strong on the outside but actually dying on the inside' thing isn't working. I've been keeping these walls up all my life and it's draining all of my strength, I'm losing the will to fight, to act 'fierce'. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if the lone wolf got a pack. I reach detention and sit on a nearby bench, waiting for Lucas. Detention lasts an hour but it's the least I could do for someone who got hurt defending me.

The hour is over and I see Billy stomp out of detention first. We exchange dirty looks and he shakes his head before he storms off angrily. I look back and see Lucas come out of detention, he's got a black eye and cuts on his face and lips. I give him a sympathetic look and he just smiles. He's been in a fair fight and got seriously injured but he just smiles. The sweetest smile.


	9. Teases & kisses

**~Lucas~**

I walk out from an awkward detention and see her, she looks at me sympathetically and I smile. I smile at the fact that she waited for me, at the fact that she cared enough to wait for me. I smile at how beautiful she looks. Why haven't I asked her out yet?

"Hi." She practically whispers.

"Hey." I say still smiling.

"Will ya quit smiling, you're almost as bad as Riley."

"Sorry, I can't help it you're just-" I stop myself. She probably hates me. She probably sees me as the guy who makes her look 'weak'. "Why are you here?" I ask and she shrugs as she walks a little closer to me.

"I don't know. There's this guy that keeps stepping in to defend me and he recently got into trouble because of that. He doesn't even have to do it, he knows I can defend myself yet he's always there for me anyway." Oh, I see what she's doing. "Rumor has it he was sent to detention after school but I haven't seen him since no one as good looking as him has walked out yet. You see, I wanted to thank him instead of acting like a jerk like the last time he stood up for me." She finishes sincerely then played it cool, "Now here I am talking to you."

"So this guy...you think he's good looking?" I tease.

She scrunches her face and tilts her head to one side. "Hmmmmm. He's just meh" she shrugs and I act offended, dramatically gasping and putting my hand over my mouth. She laughs. She's adorable when she laughs, she squints her eyes almost shut and leans forward a bit. After she stops laughing we just stare into each other's eyes for a while then she frowns. "Why do you do it?" She asks seriously.

"Do what?"

"Save me. Even after I push you away. I mean, you beat up your best friend. Why?"

"Because I care about you. Way more than I care about that son of a gun." I simply state. "I hate seeing you hurt and it infuriates me when I witness someone hurt you. Why d'ya find it so hard to believe that I care?"

"What is this 20 questions?" I raise my eyebrows, waiting for her to answer seriously. She opens her mouth to say something but her phones goes off. "Saved by the cell." She looks down at the message and sighs heavily as she places her phone back in her pocket. I wonder what the text says. "Because no ones has ever cared about me enough to do what you do. That's why I find it hard to believe that you truly care." She looks up at me and smiles sadly. "I'm fine." She says knowing that I was going to ask her if everything was okay. "Thank you for standing up for me today Huckleberry, I owe you one." She starts walking off but I stop her.

"Where d'ya think your going?"

"Excuse me?" She turns around.

I knew whatever was on that text made her upset so I wanted to cheer her up. "You said you owe me one. Come over to my house."

"What? Why?" She asks, confused by my request.

"Well, duh? How else are we gonna finish this swell game of 20 questions?" I joke and she rolls her eyes in response as I lead her to my car.

For the entire journey we just sit in silence. It wasn't awkward, it was just, silent. We reach my house and I look at Maya and see her jaw drop. "Why do you looked so surprised? You've been here before, you know what my house looks like."

"Yeah I know, but it just- it looks a lot bigger when there isn't a sea of sweaty teenagers grinding against each other, you know?" I start laughing, which was a big mistake as I'm overcome with a shooting pain in my ribs and I double over, holding back a yelp. "Oh my god, are you okay?" She asks as she hurries over to me.

I look at her in disbelief. Is she serious? "Yeah, I'm fine, I'm just resting my hand over my ribs with a hunched back because that's how I comfortably walk. Do I look okay to y-OWWW!" I glare at her as I watch the worry on her face be replaced by amusement at my pain.

"Ha. Karma. That's what you get for trying to be sarcastic and sassy to someone who just wants to help." She stands there all smug with her arms crossed.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Just, get me inside will ya? Before someone sees me looking like an old man with bad back issues." She raises her eyebrows. What, is she crazy? What does she want from me? "Please?" I beg her, hoping that's what she wanted to hear before she'd finally help me.

She sucks in her breath, scrunches her face and tilts her head to the side like she did before. "Ya see, I kinda wanna help you but I'm afraid that that would be seen as the 'right thing' to do and anyone who knows my name knows that I don't like to do th-"

"Maya. I'm in agony. Get me inside so I can finally sit down, for goodness sake!" I grow impatient with her and interrupt.

"Woah there Ranger Rick, keep you're cowboy hat on. Yeeeesh. Learn to take a joke." Ohhh if looks could kill. She smirks when she sees me glowering at her. She puts my arm around her shoulder and her arm around my waist and helps me inside. Finally.

 **~Maya~**

I help the injured cowboy inside and he grunts in pain when I help him sit down. "You sure you don't want me to call someone, or take you to the hospital?"

"Maya, I'm fine." He says sternly. "But uhh- an ice pack would do no harm. Would you mind?" I shake my head. "Turn right and it's the door that's straight ahead. There's a first aid kit under the sink and the ice- I'm assuming you know what a fridge looks like." He jokes and I give him a monotone fake laugh.

I walk in to the kitchen, grab the first aid kit and a few ice packs and walk back in to the room to see Lucas resting his head on the back of the couch with his eyes closed. I throw an ice pack at him, it lands on his ribs and he jolts forward due to the pain and sudden cold. "Ugh, what was that for?" He asks.

"I dunno. You're bound to say something that will tick me off later, so...just consider this punishment for your future actions in advance?" I ask rather than state and he narrows his eyes.

"You have no idea what you just said do you?" He asks as he places the ice pack on where it hurts the most.

"Nah. Are you kidding? I just threw it because I enjoy seeing you in pain." I laugh.

He frowns and shakes his head. "You're awful."

"So I'm told. Now, let's fix that perfect face of yours." I say as I sit next to him on the couch. I take his hand, his knuckles were bloody from punching Billy so hard. "Didn't they stitch you up or something after the fight?" I ask as I tend to his hand.

"Yeah, sure, they were really helpful, they gave us good ol' lukewarm ice packs which should actually just be called water packs." He says sarcastically. "I think it might have been part of the punishment." It's silent for a while and I finish with his hand and grab an ice pack for his eye. "I think I broke his nose ya know?" He says as he's staring at a spot on the wall. My eyes widen and he snickers. "Yeah, he was trying to act cool, like he wasn't in pain, he thought he was handling it 'like a man'. A real man shows his pain, in my opinion." He winces slightly when I dab the ice on his black eye. "I think pain is strength."

He frowns and pauses before he continues. "I don't think Billy should've tried to hide the fact that he was hurt. He needs to understand that it doesn't make him weak. No one would judge him if he cries, he doesn't have to act 'strong' all the time." I'm getting a little confused but I let him talk without any interruptions as I continue to apply ice on his eye. "He needs to start trusting people, he can't live his entire life being all alone. He needs to stop pushing away the people who care about him." He stops staring at the wall ahead and slowly turns towards me, our faces are so close I can feel his breath tickling me. I gaze into his emerald eyes. "He needs to open up to someone. He needs to let someone in."

There's a moment of silence where we're both just staring into each other's eyes, often glancing down at each other's lips but then flickering our eyes back up again. "Something tells me you're not actually talking about Billy." I whisper not wanting to disturb the tranquil silence. I don't feel right. Why am I breathing weird? Why is my heart beating so fast? What the hell is wrong with me?

"Ya think?" He whispers back and smiles, placing a stray strand of hair behind my ear. I see him glance at my lips one last time as he slowly starts to lean in and I find myself closing my eyes and doing the same.

I don't have to lean in far before his lips brush against mine, it feels like they're a perfect match. It's such a soft, gentle kiss, almost as if he's showing how much he cares about me in one action. It doesn't take me long to get lost in the kiss, in the explosion of fireworks, in his tender touch, in the rhythm of my heartbeat matching the rhythm of our lips moving in sync- no what am I thinking? I push him away and his eyes widen in shock.

"I-I-I can't." I shake my head vigorously as I grab my belongings and walk out before he can ask questions, leaving him there in confusion with only half of his injuries tended to.

I can't fall for him. It's not real, what he says, what he makes me feel, it's all just a lie. One big, elaborate lie to hurt me later on when I'm more vulnerable. It can't be real because people can't love me. I can't be loved and I can't fall for him. I just can't.

"What the hell happened to the strong, badass Maya I once was?" I think out loud as the summer rain starts pouring.


	10. Boys & Girls

**~Lucas~**

I walk into school, head towards my locker and I unconsciously grab everything I need for the day. My mind is constantly replaying what happened last night. Did I do something wrong? I mean, she leaned in and kissed back, right?

"Yo! Furious Friar!" I hear Zay yell for my attention and start laughing. "You like that? It took me from when the big hand was at 2 until the big hand was at 11 to come up with that." I raise my eyebrows in disbelief.

"Seriously? It took you 45 minutes to come up with Furious Friar?"

"Yeah, why?" He asks, then whispers, "is 45 minutes too long?"

"No buddy. Not too long at all." I laugh and grab his shoulders, making him turn around. "In fact, you should show off to everyone how quickly you came up with my amazing nickname." I say sarcastically as I pushed him towards class. I figured I shouldn't overthink what happened last night.

 **~Farkle~**

I see Riley talking to Maya by her locker so I walk up to them. "Hey, Riley. Maya" I nod. Riley replies and stares at me with a loving smile so I do the same. She's so pretty and funny and her personality's just...wow. We stand there staring at each other for a while, until I notice Maya watching us with an unsettling smirk. We both snap out of our trance when Maya purposefully coughs and makes both of us blush. I sheepishly smile at Riley and avoid Maya's eye contact.

"I-umm-I-I better go." I stutter, using my thumb to gesture where I'm going. "I have to discuss a presentation with my fellow nerds before class starts." I don't know what possesses me but I give Riley a quick hug before I leave. "I'll see you at lunch?" She nods. As I wave goodbye to the girls, I notice Riley touches her pendant and smiles. Boy, she's adorable.

 **~Maya~**

I raise my eyebrows and my lips tug up into a smirk as I watch him leave then I face Riley.

"Wh-what is that face?" I take a step closer. "M-Maya what are you thinking?" I start circling her. "Maya you're scaring me, stop."

She starts tapping her feet with nerves and I continue circling her. "Why do you want me to stop sweet pea?" I halt in front of her. "It's not like you're hiding anything, right?" I tilt my head in question. "I mean, it's not like you, y'know like him or anything." I say nonchalantly, shrugging. Her eyes grow wide and the biggest grin is plastered on my face. "You do! You like him!" I whisper yell.

"What?! No! He's my friend-"

"No, I'm your friend. Farkle? He's- he's something else." I step uncomfortably close to her and glare. "Sooner or later you're gonna break. You're gonna spill all your emotions and cry to me about how beautiful love is. How you don't think anyone can be as perfect as Farkle. How you want to spend the rest of your life with him. How yo- Just break already! Admit it. You. Like. Farkle." But she doesn't do anything she just...smirks. Uh oh.

 **~Riley~**

There is no way I'm giving her the satisfaction of breaking me. Two can play at this game Hart.

"You really want to talk about Farkle?" I find that she's backing away from me but I make sure the gap doesn't get too big. "How about we talk about Lucas, huh?" She opens her mouth to say something but quickly shuts it and frowns.

"Umm, wh-what about Lucas? Who's Lucas? I don't know any Lucas."

"Oh c'mon! You can't pretend like nobody sees the way he looks at you!" I repeat what she did to me earlier and stand intimidatingly close to her. "I may break sooner Maya, but later you'll break too."

I start circling her like she did before. "You'll admit how great it feels when he defends you. How, even though he might have anger issues, it feels amazing knowing he would never hurt you. How he would make sure no one else would break your heart because he'll protect you no matter what."

When I realize my circling is having no affect on her I just stop in front of her and cross my arms. "You will admit that you secretly like him too. It may not be sooner, but later. Hell, you might not even know you like him yet, but you will."

We both glare at each other until our eyesight blurs. "I don't like this game anymore." She states and we both burst into laughter.

"What, you don't like the game of truth?" I tease.

"The game of truth huh? So you admit that you like Farkle?" Dammit, that backfired.

I snicker and shake my head. "Shut up." I playfully push her. "Let's just go to class."

"Ahh, I love our love/hate relationship." She says as we link arms and head to class. I half smile, we may have been joking around, but there was still some element of truth behind what was said and I'm pretty sure we both know that.


	11. The 3 musketeers

**~Maya~**

"Sooo, do you like Lucas?" Riley asks me _again_ , I swear she's been asking the same question over and over again like a broken record. Seriously, what is she hoping to achieve?

"For the thousandth time Riley, no!" I'm growing tiresome of trying to convince her that I don't like the cowboy but my efforts to do so are failing.

"You do though. You like him." She comes to this conclusion, nodding vigorously, adamant to make me admit something that's not true.

"When are you gonna let this go?" I plead.

As if on queue Farkle walks up behinds us. "Let what go?"

"Maya likes Lucas." Riley casually blurted out. I responded by glaring at her whilst she smiles innocently. I was so tempted to tell Farkle she likes him so she can have a taste of her own medicine but I decided against it. I kinda liked the friendship the three of us have formed, I didn't want to ruin it with a petty argument. We're like the 3 musketeers...only, I'd unintentionally distance myself from them around other students to keep my reputation as the 'cool badass'. I stop the little staring contest we were having when I hear Farkle speak up.

"Lucas." I watch him shift from one foot to the other, he seemed to be angry for some reason. "Lucas the arrogant, stupid, little obnoxious bastard?" he spits. What the hell? That was harsh.

I hold my hands up in defense. "Whoa, okay there ex-turtleneck, we all have our flaws. He may have come from a rich family, have an overpriced car, live in a mansion and have a reputation but... I mean he's not that bad. Right?" I alternate my gaze between Riley and Farkle, searching for some sign of agreement from them. I could practically sense Riley smirking at me saying 'Hah! I told you so' or 'see, I knew you liked him' in her head but it's not true. I don't like him.

"Are we talking about the same Lucas here? The same self-centred Lucas who physically and emotionally bullies people like Riley to make his pretentious self seem superior? That Lucas? Because if so, you are way too good for him Maya." I frown, confused.

"Wait, he does what?" I ask in disbelief, how can he care so much about someone like me yet treat Riley like trash. All I know is that Riley gets bullied, I have no idea who bullies her -apart from Missy because of the other day- or how far they go to make her miserable. I didn't think Lucas, the golden boy, could do anything like that.

"You didn't know." Farkle states slowly in realisation rather than asking.

I ignore Farkle and turn towards Riley who had her head down. "Riley?" I ask, hoping she says it's not true.

"How did you not know?" I could tell by his tone that he was still angry so I snap back around.

"I had enough problems of my own Farkle. I didn't care about strangers I knew nothing about." I shout.

"Riley's not a stranger," he argues.

"Not now but she was."

"Still, you should ha-" I interrupt him.

"There's a reason why I'm known as the lone wolf, Einstein! I don't get into other people's business and they stay out of mine. It was just me against the world!" I look over at Riley who's awkwardly rocking back and forth on her heel. I realize we had been talking about her like she wasn't even there. "But now I've got a best friend to care for," I hold Riley's hand and she gives me a sad smile as she stops rocking, "and a genius who asks too many questions." I nodded my head towards Farkle which made her laugh away the tears that were about to build up.

"Don't forget your cowboy crush." She says.

"I don't like him Riley." I sternly state. I knew she could tell I was being serious as she just nods and says okay. "Why didn't you tell me he was one of your bullies?" She shrugs in response to my question. "Are you okay?" She gives an unconvincing 'yeah, I'm fine'. I figured she didn't want to talk about it so I give her a hug and leave to go to art class early, the idea of secrets and hidden truths giving me inspiration for a new piece of artwork.

 **~Riley~**

When Maya left it was just me and Farkle. He was staring at me, occasionally frowning in concentration like he was solving a difficult equation, like he was trying to 'figure me out'.

"What?!" I finally blurt in frustration.

"N-nothing, I-I was just wondering," I felt bad for yelling at him. "Why didn't you tell her he bullies you?"

"I don't know. I guess I didn't want to ruin whatever image she had of Lucas. I know she has some sort of feelings towards him, though she doesn't want to admit it. And Maya seems like someone who doesn't have a chance to be happy very often, I didn't want to destroy her chance at a little happiness, even if it is with someone I hate. I'd do anything for her." It's true, I would do anything for her. Maya Hart is a broken girl deep down, yet I always thought she was the complete opposite before I spoke to her that night outside Lucas' party. She puts on a hell of an act.

"Okay, so if you didn't tell Maya, why did you tell me?" Because you were the first person at this school who was friendly to me. Because you were the first person willing to listen to me and talk to me. The first person who- I begin to blush as I recall what he said to me in the greenhouse. His reaction of showering me with sincere compliments after discovering I was being bullied, comforting me whilst I cried and giving me this pendant.

I fiddled with the pendant as I replied. "You asked me to tell you everything back at the greenhouse, so I did." I smile and gazed into his eyes as he did the same to me.

"You're so cute." He says, out of nowhere, making me blush. I just looked down in embarrassment and whispered a quick 'thanks'. "Shall we go?" he suggests as he reaches for my hand and walks me to my next class, our fingers intertwined. Our friendship is so weird, I love it, it's like we're in a relationship...but we're not. There's no pressure or awkwardness that may come with being a couple we're just...us and I feel so comfortable around him.


End file.
